The One To Choose
by planet oc
Summary: Ryan hasn't recovered from his break-up with Lindsay, until he meets the new girl of Newport.
1. Coincidence?

Chapter One: Coincidence?

She watched as Alex led her girlfriend d'jour down the stairs and into her office, shushing her and giggling. She sighed and shook her head.

_I've been here less than a week, and already I know more about this girl than I want to._

She stuck her auburn hair back behind one ear and began to put the glasses back in their correct spots behind the bar. The words "Bait Shop" were painted behind her, and this girl, Amy Thomas, had just become its new bartender. She had moved to sunny Orange County almost a week ago from San Diego, looking for a job to help pay for her tuition at a school with an outrageous selling price. She hadn't been looking forward to moving there; she had heard the horror stories of the people living in the OC, as they fondly called it and wasn't at all thrilled. Thankfully, she had met Alex, who had given her this job and seemed almost normal. That is, until she found out about her many women, those not including her "girlfriend" Marissa, whom Amy had never met. She also knew about Seth, Alex's ex-boyfriend who she still had feelings for, but liked Marissa more. That was how she had put it when her life story spilled out, shortly before she passed out on the bar in front of Amy. Amy watched her with amusement and picked up her thin frame and carried her back to her office. That had been three days ago. She had been working here, watching Alex leave and come back with numerous girls and guys, wondering about this Marissa and what she would say if she knew all this.

Amy sat on the bar thinking about this, listening to her scratched up Journey record, when she heard footsteps coming behind her. Thinking it was Alex, she swung around ready to spy. But it wasn't Alex. It was a young guy, about seventeen or eighteen, standing there with a puzzled look on his face. He had sandy blonde hair, dark eyes- she couldn't make out the color from where she was sitting- and was wearing a dark collared shirt with jeans. If that was Seth, she would make sure to slap Alex hard across the face for breaking up with him.

"Hi," he said, looking around quizzically.

"Hi," Amy returned. "You don't happen to be Seth, do you?"

He laughed then said, "No, I'm Ryan, Seth's brother. Are you a friend of Alex?"

"Nope, just her bartender. Actually, I can't really serve drink drinks here because I'm under 21. Something about kids selling alcohol. Not a good combination, I guess," she smiled at him and he smiled back.

God, he's cute. 

"So," she said, continuing, "you're Seth's brother. Are you also his wingman?"

He laughed again and said, "You could say that."

"So, is he looking for Alex?"

"Actually, I'm here for Marissa. She's the one looking for Alex. Do you know where she is?"

Amy swallowed quickly, but her smile never faltered. "No, she went out about an hour ago. Do you want me to have her call Marissa when she gets back?"

"No, no, that's okay. So, um, were you and Alex, uh…"

Realizing what he was saying, Amy jumped in. "No, no, I just moved here actually." Remembering her manners, she jumped off the bar and stuck out her hand.

"I'm Amy." Smiling, he shook her hand.

"Amy. Hi. Where did you move from?"

"San Diego. My parents heard of this school up here and they wanted to move. Plus, my dad got a job here, so here I am."

"What school are they sending you to?"

"Some place called Harbor something. I start on Monday."

"Really, well that's a coincidence. That's where, well most everyone we've mentioned in this conversation goes to school."

"Well, that's good. Now, I get to meet the famous Seth and Marissa." Inside, Amy was screaming. Not only was she standing less than three feet from this guy, she was going to be able to see him on a daily basis. Standing closer to him, she thought she could make out that his eyes were blue.

"Maybe Newport won't be so bad anymore."

Ryan smiled and leaned towards her. "It kinda grows on you after awhile."

_Oh, yeah, they were definitely blue. _

She smiled back and watched as he turned away. She then watched as he stopped, cocked his head, and turned back to her, smiling.

"You like Journey?"

"They're my favorite," they both said this at the same time. They looked at each other and smiled sheepishly.

_Newport's definitely not looking so bad now._


	2. Smitten

Chapter Two: Smitten

He crept into the poolhouse, his eyes tired and his heart heavy. He flipped open his cell phone and saw that there were no missed calls, no new messages. The only call on his phone was the drunken one Marissa had left earlier when she asked him to go see where Alex was. He ran a hand through his flaxen hair and plunked himself down on his bed. He wanted the number on his phone to be from Lindsay, but after she decided she'd rather have a dad than a boyfriend, Ryan doubted he would hear from her for a while. He sank down on the pillows and tried to think of anything but Lindsay. He thought it would be hard, but instead it wasn't. A different girl came to mind, almost as quickly as he had closed his eyes. It was Amy, with her cute smile and sweet brown eyes. Those were what he hadn't been able to stop staring at. No one's eyes had ever had that sort of heart stopping effect on him. And coupled with the smile, her eyes took on a blinding, dazzling effect, something that he couldn't bear to look away from. He remembered the way her dark reddish brown hair fell to her shoulders, settling loosely on them and her sweet, tender voice. It was quiet and husky, but also energetic and lively. She didn't seem to be wrapped up in all of the drama that was Newport, which was something like a cool drink for Ryan's dehydrated body. She had been wearing an old Led Zeppelin t-shirt and a jean skirt, which beautifully showed off her tanned skin. She'd had black and pink Converses on her feet and her fingernails were painted a scarlet red with a single black dot in the middle of them. She also didn't have that stick-thin figure like most girls he knew. She had the same types of curves as Summer did and wasn't tiny like Marissa and Lindsay. His thoughts went back to her face and he remembered her eyes being lined with a pretty dark blue and she had a little bit of blush on her cheeks to accent the tan. Her lips were a light pink and Ryan wondered vaguely what they tasted like, what she tasted like. He wondered what it would be like to have her underneath him on this very bed and feel her smooth skin against his. He swallowed thickly as he thought this and then discovered that he was racked with sweat, not to mention the agonizing, yet slightly pleasurable, ache in his groin. Smiling, he rolled over and fell asleep, the last thing he saw being Amy's eyes.

He dream consisted of his previous thoughts- Amy lying underneath him and the sounds of moans and pants flowing throughout the room. Seth watched half-uncomfortably and half-amusedly as Ryan moved about on the bed, a small noise coming out of his throat once and awhile.

"Hey, Ryan?" Seth said softly, tapping him on the shoulder. This released an actual moan from him and Seth closed his eyes and chuckled.

"Dude, get up. I'm not Lindsay." This time he kicked him and Ryan sat up quickly, eyes wide and glazed. He looked over at Seth with a sleepy look on his face and waved his hand. Running a hand over his face, he looked over and whispered, "What time is it?"

"About three o'clock."

Ryan glared at Seth and threw himself on the pillows again.

"Actually, its about a quarter to ten."

Ryan's eyes opened. "Are you serious?"

"Yep. 9:45."

"Oh." Ryan yawned and sat up stretching.

"So, were you having a good dream?"

Ryan looked at him, confused. "Why do you ask that?"

Seth laughed. "Come on. Thrashing and moaning aren't really in dreams about rainbows and sunshine."

Ryan looked at him sheepishly and shrugged.

"Who was the lucky girl? Lindsay? Theresa? Marissa? God, you have too many women."

Ryan laughed and shook his head. "No. It wasn't any of them. It was someone else."

Seth's eyes opened wide and he cocked an eyebrow at Ryan. "Really? Who?"

"You don't know her. She works at the Bait Shop with Alex. I met her yesterday."

Seth laughed uproariously. "Yesterday? Damn, she must have had some effect on you."

Ryan looked at him. "I guess she did," he said seriously.

"Woah, Ryan's in his brooding mode now. What happened?"

Ryan recalled his thoughts about Amy last night to Seth and when he was done, Seth had a small smile on his face.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Well, considering you've never talked so much in your entire life, I'd have to say that you, Ryan Atwood, are smitten. You didn't even talk to me this much about Marissa."

Ryan raised his eyebrows, thinking. He then shrugged it off. "So, what did you come in here for in the first place? Usually you let me wake up by myself."

"Marissa called. Again. She asked for you and me to go back down to the Bait Shop to find Alex. She sounds horrible these days."

"I think we can blame the booze for that. I haven't seen her sober in a long time."

Seth shrugged. "So, you get dressed and let's go. I want to meet this Amy."


	3. Change of Plans

Chapter Three: Change of Plans

Ryan and Seth walked down to the Bait Shop in the early morning sun, Seth talking aimlessly about how hard it was working so close to Summer and not being able to do anything about it.

"So, now we're all going down to San Diego to try to sell the comic. This is going to suck so badly. On the one hand, I want Summer back. On the other, I don't want to mess up my friendship with Zach." Ryan watched this spew with amusement. Seth was about to yet again become the ending side to the Seth-Summer-Zach love triangle. And quite frankly, Ryan wanted her to pick Seth just so he would shut up about it.

They stopped in front of the mess hall of the cool kids in Newport and walked inside. There, they heard AC/DC blasting over the speakers. Looking over at Seth, Ryan smiled at his gaping expression.

"I like her already," he shouted. Then he put his hand out and grabbed Ryan.

"Alex isn't here. I can tell. She hates AC/DC."

Ryan shrugged and went on in. Seth shook his head.

"You are like the epitome of infatuation."

Ryan looked at him. "At least I didn't name my boat after her."

"Good point."

Ryan shook his head laughing and walked down the stairs to the bar, where Amy was dancing around to "You Shook Me All Night Long" all while wiping the counters. However, neither of them knew why she was so happy as she danced, although Ryan had a slight idea. He tapped her on the shoulder and she spun around, thinking it was Alex. When she saw whom it actually was her face brightened and she turned down the music.

"Hey!" she said, her voice muted, yet energetic at all the same time.

"Hey Amy. This is Seth."

She extended her hand and looked at the cute guy at Ryan's side. She decided to actually slap Alex hard across the face.

"Hi there, Amy. I've heard a lot about you." Seth said smiling, then grimacing as Ryan stepped on his foot.

Amy laughed. "Have you, now?" She looked at Ryan with a flirtatious smirk. "Good things, right?"

"Of course. What else could there be?"

Amy grinned at him and looked at Ryan with a softer smile playing on her sweet pink lips. He smiled back. Seth, noticing this, excused himself to go to the stage to play with the microphones, something he did when Alex wasn't around to yell at him about it.

"So… uh.."

Amy laughed. "Are you always this articulate?"

Seth found this a perfect time to jump in. "Actually, Ryan has a hard time talking. Period. So don't blame yourself."

"Ah, well that makes me feel much better."

"Thank you Seth," Ryan looked at him with a bitter smile and then turned back to Amy. "So, how are you?"

"Since yesterday? Pretty good actually. What about you?"

"Good, good."

She nodded and tried to hide her smile as she turned back to cleaning the bar. The song had turned now to Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" and she was slowly rocking back and forth as she cleaned. It was oddly alluring and Ryan had to take a few deep breaths to get the tempting picture out of her out of his head. It was actually his phone that stirred him out of his dream and he was startled as he looked at the caller ID.

"Who is it?" Seth called from across the room.

Ryan looked up at him, glancing quickly at Amy who was eyeing him. "It was Lindsay."

"Are you going to answer it?"

Instead of answering him, he just shoved the phone back into his pocket and looked at Amy.

She snickered. "Was that your girlfriend?"

"Was being the operative word there," Seth said.

"I love how you feel you have to answer for me."

"It's what I do."

Ryan turned his attention back to Amy. "We broke up about a week ago."

She nodded and smiled with her lips pursed. She turned around quickly and began scrubbing the same spot she had been scrubbing with more vigor. The next few seconds were filled with an unbearable silence, with just the sound of the three breathing and the scrubbing noise on the porcelain counter. Suddenly, the door flew open and in stepped Summer, surprising them all.

"Cohen, I need to talk to you. It's about Zach."

Seth looked at her surprised. "Okay, Summer, do you have this, like, radar for me?"

"No, ass face, your mom told me where you were."

Amy looked at Ryan and tried to hide a smile. He just shook his head. Then, Summer noticed the new girl standing behind the counter and cocked her head at Ryan.

"Who are you?" she said, her voice a soft, sweet one, unlike the one she had used with Seth a few moments before.

Amy stuck out her hand. "I'm Amy."

Summer returned the handshake. "I'm Summer."

It was then that both Seth and Ryan noticed the similarities between the two. They looked as if they could be sisters, save the different colors of the hair and the styles of clothing. Ryan and Seth glanced at each other and raised their eyebrows at the same time, a common trait shared between them.

Summer dropped Amy's hand and turned back to Seth. "So, Cohen, we really need to talk to Zach about this whole trip to San Diego. I mean, I wouldn't want it to become-"

"Confusing," he answered for her. She nodded. "Exactly. I mean, it would be really-"

"Awkward."

"Yeah. So will you…"

"I'll go with you."

"Great," Summer said, smiling as she walked out of the door, Seth close at her heels. As the door closed, they left Amy and Ryan standing there in the silence. The CD had gone off five minutes before and Amy went over to take it out of the player.

"They were obviously together."

"They really should be. They're kind of made for each other. I think Zach and Alex were just their bypasses so they could find out who they really wanted to be with."

"Of course, Alex still hasn't figured that out."

They both laughed lightly, slightly throwing off the tense mood that was in the room.

"So," Amy began, after the laughter had died off, "have you ever had a "bypass", as you say?"

Ryan looked at her, marveling at how she could look so innocent, yet so enticing all at the same time. "No, I haven't. I've always kind of jumped into a relationship and plummeted head first down into it."

Amy nodded. "I'm guessing that you've never actually had a girl who was a friend, huh?"

"Not really."

"Well, maybe that's what you need."

"Huh?" Ryan looked at her, disappointed and startled.

"Tonight, there's going to be another Killers concert. We should go. Seth and Summer and, I'm guessing Zach, could come. And, maybe Alex will be there long enough to introduce me to Marissa."

Ryan shook his head. "That's still hard for me to wrap my head around. I mean I dated her for months and she was never…. oh"

Amy was looking at him with a small smirk. "You definitely need a break from girls."

"But you're a girl."

"I realize that. And maybe, if you and I hang out as friends, you'll be able to get over your "plummeted" relationships."

Ryan had to smile at her. "Okay, if you really think that's going to help."

"I do. Trust me."


	4. Something Has To Go Wrong

Chapter Four: Something Has To Go Wrong

Amy stood in front of the mirror in her room, trying to decide on the best outfit to wear. A few dozen were already discarded and thrown carelessly on her bed. It was as if a tornado had just blown through her room. She knew that it wasn't actually a date, but that didn't mean she couldn't dress up a little. She finally decided to wear her black strapless dress over jeans, with her pink Chucks to punk it up a little. Her hair fell in long wisps over her face, red and blonde peeking out through the brunette. She was beautiful, but she would never admit this to anyone. Too many people in her life, namely her disgusting boyfriends, had told her that she was nothing and ugly. After so many times of hearing this, she began to believe it herself and her confidence was down to a thin, tenuous strand. She began to feel that the only thing that she had was her intelligence and shut herself down from the rest of the world. She would never allow herself to open her heart again and tried to give off a fake persona to everyone else. She never wanted her heart to be opened up and let herself be vulnerable. Her heart had been broken to pieces. She didn't need someone to do it again. This is what she had been telling herself to do up until the point in which she had met Ryan. Now, her heart and mind were pulling her in different directions, one telling her to open up to him and the other telling her to stay closed off and away. Now, she was ignoring both of them and was going to become his friend. Or at least, try to.

Unfortunately, someone else had other plans.

Ryan sat on his bed, staring solemnly into the LCD screen of his cell phone. Five missed calls, all from Lindsay, were being erased. He didn't know what to think as the calls were fading away. He couldn't tell if he still was in love- had he ever been in love with Lindsay? He didn't know. He knew that she made him feel better after Marissa had decided they should be friends, but he could never tell if he really liked her, or if he was just rebounding from a broken heart. His heart had been broken many a time, and all the while he had tried to harden it. And after Lindsay had broken up with him, Ryan thought that he finally had fallen out of love, had hardened his heart to the point of no return. But now, someone else was trying to pry it open, in the most circuitous way possible. Trying her hardest to beat around the bush, Amy was gently breaking off the pieces surrounding his heart, in the most unlikely way. She wanted to be his friend. He hadn't had a friend since Seth, and he truly believed that maybe it would help him. But somehow, he didn't feel right just being her friend. He wanted more from her. But, he couldn't decide what that was yet. And it would take a while for him to choose.

Ryan walked into the Bait Shop, Summer, Seth, and Zach bantering about the comic behind him. He figured from the tone of their voices, the whole San Diego trip hadn't been resolved. But, by the way Seth and Summer were looking at each other, Ryan didn't think it would take long for them to figure it out. Ryan scanned the room for Amy and quickly found her standing in front of the bar, her elbows leaning on it for support. He walked to her and leaned next to her. She looked at him and he could see a smile on her profile from the corners of his eyes.

"So, do you like the Killers?" she shouted above the music.

"They're really good." Ryan couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was absolutely beautiful. He wondered absentmindedly if anyone had ever told her that before, and hoped to God that they had. He made a mental note to find out if there had been anyone who had said otherwise, and a side note to beat the living shit out of them. They both stood there in silence, both rocking back and forth to the song, something Ryan caught as being called "Mr. Brightside". Ryan glanced over at Seth, who was still bickering with Summer, who was perfecting her eye roll as he spoke. Zach, on the other hand, wasn't looking too happy about the whole progress of his date, but neither Seth nor Summer seemed to notice.

Toward the end of the song, Amy turned her head long enough to see a girl with long red hair staring at her with the most spiteful look that Amy had ever seen. She cocked her head, confused, and looked around to see if she wasn't the target of that malicious look. But when she turned around again, she saw the girl walking quickly towards them. Ryan turned to look at her and then followed her gaze, grimacing when he saw who was standing in front of him. And being taken aback at the strong smell of liquor coming from her mouth.

"Lindsay, what are you doing here?"

"Why haven't you called?" she slurred at him. "And who the hell is that?"

Amy, trying to be funny, stuck her hand out. Lindsay swatted at it with horrible aim and Amy pulled back quickly.

Ryan looked at her. "What have you been drinking?"

"The same stuff Marissa is."

"What, are you two like friends now?"

By this time, Summer had made her way over to Amy's side and was watching. Lindsay, who had completely ignored Ryan's last question, tried to smack Amy, but she grabbed her hand.

"Let go of me, you whore, and get away from my boyfriend."

"Lindsay, I'm not your-"

"Shut up. Come on, Ryan," she said, dropping her voice and rubbing against him. He pushed her away at about the same time Marissa strolled over, who was looking pretty smashed herself.

"What's going on here?" she asked, the alcohol cascading off of her breath.

"Why don't you tell me?"

"What are you talking about?" Marissa slurred, her eyes slowly glazing over.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about, Marissa. This is the second time Lindsay's gotten drunk because of you."

"I didn't do it because of her. I did it for myself," Lindsay said this with a very proud look on her face.

"You know, you don't have to protect us all the time Ryan. We're big girls. We can take care of ourselves."

Ryan sighed and reached out to grab Marissa as she tripped over her own feet, but she swung at him and regained her balance.

"Don't you fucking touch me, Ryan. I don't want your hands on me."

"Hey, come on Coop," Summer said, placing a hand on Marissa's arm, but she pulled back from her grasp as well.

"I don't need you to take care of me either Summer. Besides," she said, smirking evilly, "don't you need to take care of some things for yourself, Sum?"

Summer eyed her nervously. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, well, I don't know, maybe this big choice between Cohen and Zach?" She looked at Seth and mouthed, "It's you" to him and then gave Summer a huge smile. Summer looked as if she were going to burst into tears and Ryan looked at Marissa in awe. Summer lifted her head up high and said in nothing more than a whisper, "I guess I'm finally figuring out what you actually think."

"I guess so," Marissa said, crossing her arms across her chest. Summer nodded and turned quickly, walking out of the club. Both Seth and Zach began to follow her, but Amy, who had been quiet throughout the whole ordeal, stepped in.

"I think that I should go. I don't think she'll want to talk to either of you about this tonight," she said, with a reassuring glance at Seth. Seth and Zach eyed each other, then nodded and walked off in separate directions.

"See you on Monday, Ryan," Amy said, and then went off to find Summer.

Ryan nodded and then turned back to Marissa. Lindsay had been staring off into a corner for a few minutes, staying out of the conversation. Ryan was surprised at her; he had never seen Lindsay like this before, but was more concerned with Marissa's actions.

"What's wrong, Marissa?"

Marissa stared at him. "Why should I tell you? You'll just find someway to blame it all on me, anyway. So, I really don't think I want to tell you." Marissa had almost gone to the point of losing consciousness and was slowly rocking back and forth on her heels. Lindsay looked at him.

"Ryan, just go home, okay? I'll take Marissa into see Alex."

Ryan stared at Lindsay and then shrugged, letting her take over. He turned around, slowly becoming aware that the whole ordeal that had just played out had completely ruined his "date" with Amy. He found her outside with Summer and Seth, who was lingering back and watching them. Amy had her arm around Summer and was trying to sooth her. Summer, Ryan could see, was crying. Seth, noticing he was there, patted Summer on the shoulder and walked toward him.

"Bye Amy," Ryan called, but she seemed not to notice. Ryan turned around dejectedly and began walking toward home with Seth.

"I've never seen Marissa act like that before." Seth said this about five minutes into the trip.

Ryan sighed. "I have. I was actually worried about Lindsay."

"Well, it's kind of obvious as to why she did that."

Ryan looked at him, bewildered. "Why?"

"She wants to get back together with you. And Amy seems to be standing in her way."

Ryan shook his head. "Why? She broke up with _me_."

Seth just shrugged. "I'm just saying man. I think someone's involved in a three-way triangle again. And one that is actually much more pleasant than that of the Ryan-Lindsay-Caleb triangle." At that image, they both shuddered.


End file.
